Late surge sent New Orleans VooDoo past Cleveland Gladiators

New Orleans VooDoo Coach Pat O’Hara pulled his team together as he always does at the end of the third quarter of Saturday night’s game at Cleveland. He pleaded with the players to make a big play on defense. He asked for just one, he got three and as always the opportunistic VooDoo defense did it by forcing turnovers.

New Orleans forced two fumbles and an interception in a 26-0 fourth quarter to come back from being down by two touchdowns to win 54-42 against the Gladiators.

“It was one of the top defenses in the league and we knew that going in and they really did a good job against us,” O’Hara said. “The first half we had two ejections and we had 19 guys and the guys really fought through that and I couldn’t be more proud of that.”

With the VooDoo trailing 42-34 the defense started the run by holding the Gladiators without a point. The VooDoo offense took control and made it 42-40 with 6:42 left in the game.

On Cleveland’s next drive, quarterback John Dutton was sacked by Xavier Brown. Dutton fumbled into the end zone and Michael Janac recovered and the VooDoo took its first lead.

It didn’t stop there as DeMarcus Robinson stripped a Cleveland receiver of the ball on the next drive and recovered with 1:28 left at the VooDoo 8-yard line. Courtney Smith’s 33-yard touchdown made it 54-42.

But just for good measure, linebacker Alvin Ray Jackson intercepted a pass on the next drive and the VooDoo ran out the clock.

For Jackson, it was his second interception of the game and his 11th on the season. He’s now second in the league behind Philadelphia’s Ken Richardson.

“It’s really neat to see what Alvin is doing,” O’Hara said. “He’s a great player and you have to give credit, also, to (defensive coordinator) Maurice Blanding. He put Alvin in position to make plays and on the other hand Alvin is a great player.”

DIVISION DOINGS: Among the leaders in the American Conference South Division, New Orleans (6-7) was the only team to post a victory. Georgia, Jacksonville and Tampa each lost which puts New Orleans in a tie for second with the Sharks and the Storm with Georgia in the lead by a half-game.

“At the end of the game you look at the scores quickly before you talk to the team,” O’Hara said. “It was a perfect storm of events for us. You know we jumped two spots in the playoff race and put ourselves in playoff position. We really control our own destiny and that’s the feeling you want to have right now.”

O’Hara is right about controlling the situation. Tampa has played seven games in the division with just one left. Georgia and Jacksonville have played six games. New Orleans has only played four and has a game with all of the division opponents beginning Friday at Orlando.

DONE AND OVER: With the AFL and the Players Union coming to an agreement Monday, O’Hara said it’s time to just get back to worrying about what’s on the field.

“That’s huge, we were able to tell our guys congratulations,” O’Hara said. “That’s just a lift off all of our shoulders, players, coaches everyone for five years. We can move forward, not only as a team but as a league. It’s a great feeling to put that all behind us.”

ROSTER MOVE: The VooDoo were assigned former Louisiana Tech standout and NFL journeyman Josh Victorian, the team announced Tuesday afternoon. Victorian, 5 feet 10, 190 pounds, was an undrafted free agent signee of the Baltimore Ravens in 2011, going on to play with the New England Patriots, mainly on the practice squad. Victorian also spent time with the New Orleans Saints on the practice squad in 2012.

Victorian was a four-year letterman at Louisiana Tech where he finished with 87 tackles (63 solo), 27 passes defended, and five interceptions. He starred at Destrehan High School, helping lead the team to the Louisiana 5A state playoffs four consecutive seasons.